Nightmare
by Golem XIV
Summary: One-shot. Garfield comforts Raven when she's having a nightmare.


**Author's Note:**

Yeah, I know. I already did an almost identical scene for _Trials,_ except the roles were reversed. And I know there's a couple dozen (thousand) stories about it on the site already. And it's too damn short. So what?

Oh, yeah. The **Disclaimer.** I don't own the Teen Titans.

* * *

 **Nightmare**

It was a senseless, directionless, timeless void. No lights or sounds, no hot or cold, no air, no wind. Not even the pull of gravity to tell her what was up and what was down.

It was all around her, as heavy and oppressive, as burning and suffocating as being submerged in ethereal tar. It was smothering her, insubstantial as breathing vacuum yet stifling her lungs with sticky viscosity, filling her mouth with tasteless bitterness, drilling into her ears with silent screeching, blinding her eyes with unbearable darkness. It whispered in her mind with unheard voices and senseless words, weaving tales of fear and despair and hopelessness; teasing her with empty faith and fake promises, just to yank them away as soon as she reached for them like a ghostly Tantalus, her vaporous hand going through them as she watched them fade and vanish.

Somehow she sensed the amorphous blackness thicken, invisible strands extruding into intangible tentacles that curled around her neck, strangling her with their unfelt power. Her lungs labored trying to fill with air, but there was none, just the syrupy nothingness that would not go through a throat squeezed by nonexistent hands, her nose stopped by abstract darkness, her mouth clogged by insubstantial blackness. Her heart thudded wildly and blood roared in her ears; flashes appeared under her eyelids trying to illuminate the obsidian void. Her arms and legs were immobile, the nerves severed by an ebony incision in the back of her neck, cutting off the nerves of her spine and leaving her paralyzed but feeling.

Panic coiled inside her like a nest of snakes, growing and biting with venomous fangs at her soul, slithering across her mind to envelop and constrict her already frozen thoughts. She wanted to scream, but there was no air. She wanted to run, but her legs wouldn't move. She released her power in an ultimate, soundless shriek of purest terror, a black lightning on sable skies, inky mists within jet clouds, a dark aura in lightless emptiness. It withered and disappeared and drained out and left her alone, vulnerable and naked.

"Raven?" the whisper tore through the soundless howling, silencing it with the power of its concern. A light touch on her shoulder and her arms and legs could move again. A feeling of affection and care shining ever so closer in the dark drove away the undefinable mass of stygian darkness. A familiar scent washed away the stench of corruption and panic, tearing out a gasp from her throat as she started breathing again. Her eyelids flew open, the unbearably bright darkness of her room hurting her eyes after the lightless void they were staring into while they were closed. Her arms went for him, clutching him and pulling him close; her face pressed into his chest, listening to his accelerating heartbeat and his surprised hiss, taking a deep breath and tasting again his scent, letting it fill her and pervade her and infuse her with calmness, making her muscles slowly unclench and relax.

"Rae, what's wrong? Were you having a nightmare?" he asked, anxiety for her gleaming in his voice and his aura like shards of mica in the sunlight. She nestled closer, the panic draining from her. His arms embraced her haltingly, almost afraid to touch her. His warmth crept over her, thawing the last of the frigid numbness that had gripped her heart and soul.

The reaction took over and she began shaking. Now completely confused and bewildered, he hugged her tighter, not knowing what else to do.

 _Dude, that must've been some nightmare. And I thought mine were bad._

"What happened?" he whispered. "Did you have a nightmare?"

She nodded, rubbing her forehead against his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him without lifting her head.

"Why are you here?"

He gulped, blushed and released her, one of his hands going behind his head to scratch there.

"I… um… was passing beside your room, and I heard… sounds…"

"So you decided to go into my room and… investigate?"

"I… uh… well, yeah. Yeah, I suppose I did."

She was still grasping his uniform, keeping him close, her hand clenched in a cramp so tight the knuckles appeared white even against the pallor of her skin, her nails making holes in the tough fabric. He tried to push her away gently.

"Look, I'm sorry I… I'll leave you now."

" _No!_ " she cried, the terror in her voice tightening around his throat, leaving him breathless. Her face buried itself deeper into his chest. "Please…"

She shivered and again lifted her gaze to look at him. Her eyes were deep amethysts, dark in the gloom, the fear lurking in their corners just waiting for him to leave.

Her voice was soft but raspy and hoarse. "Please… stay."

His arm went around her shoulders, his fingers through her hair.

"Of course."

She sighed and relaxed against him, closing her eyes. For tonight, at least, the nightmares will be kept at bay.


End file.
